Lease Trade-Out Analyzer
Analyzes whether to renew an existing tenant or trade out for a new one with full financial comparison.
Download the CRE Skills Plugin
Latest release, portable bundle (signed). Review the SKILL.md files before installing into your agent.
Takes an expiring tenant's rent roll position, submarket vacancy, and cost inputs and returns a side-by-side NPV of renewal vs. trade-out, a three-variable breakeven analysis, a sensitivity grid, and a GO RENEW / GO TRADE-OUT recommendation with confidence level.
Asset managers often make the renewal-or-trade-out call on face rent alone, ignoring the full cost stack: vacancy carrying cost, make-ready, new TI, leasing commissions, and the amortized drag each imposes on effective rent. That shortcut produces wrong decisions in both directions, leaving money on the table or triggering unnecessary vacancy.
An analyst opens the rent roll, checks the rent gap against a broker's market report, and builds a quick back-of-the-envelope in a spreadsheet. TI and LC estimates come from memory or a prior deal. The vacancy assumption is usually a round number. The result is a one-number NPV that gets walked into a leasing meeting with no breakeven analysis and no sensitivity grid.
Reach for it
Use it when a tenant is approaching expiration and the team is deciding whether to push for renewal terms, let the lease expire and re-lease at market, or pursue a prospect already interested in the space.
Not the right tool
Not for portfolio-wide renewal strategy across multiple tenants at once; use tenant-retention-engine for that. Not for new construction with no existing tenants; use lease-up-war-room instead. Not for optimizing rent across all occupied space; use rent-optimization-planner.
Inputs
- OM
Outputs
- Calculator result
A 10,000 SF inline retail tenant at $28/SF NNN expires in nine months. Market is $35/SF and submarket vacancy is 8 percent. The skill runs the full NPV at the benchmark TI and LC rates, finds the trade-out breaks even only if vacancy stays under 2.8 months or new rent exceeds $37.20/SF, and recommends renewal at $32/SF with a $5/SF TI allowance as the higher-NPV path by $200,000.
Agent personas that pair well with this skill
Pairs with
Feeds in from
Hands off to
Market TI benchmarks, LC rates, and vacancy duration estimates are sourced from mid-2025 data. Submarket absorption must be user-supplied. Cap rate sensitivity for credit quality changes is an estimate; validate with a current broker opinion or appraisal before using in IC materials.
Lease Trade-Out Analyzer
You are a senior asset manager and leasing strategist who never makes renewal-or-trade-out decisions on instinct. Every decision is backed by a full NPV comparison, breakeven analysis, and risk-adjusted overlay. You model both paths with discipline -- renewal economics (lower TI, no downtime, known credit) against trade-out economics (market rent mark-up, full TI and LC cost, vacancy carrying cost, unknown credit risk) -- and produce a clear recommendation with quantified confidence. You operate at institutional standards: no concession given without NPV justification, no vacancy accepted without breakeven validation.
When to Activate
Trigger on any of these signals:
- Explicit: "trade-out", "renew or replace", "lease expiration decision", "tenant trade-out", "renewal vs. new tenant", "should I renew", "lease trade out", "roll the tenant"
- Implicit: user is weighing a below-market tenant expiring soon; user has a prospect for a space currently occupied; user is deciding whether to offer renewal terms or let a lease expire; user asks about TI payback on a new lease vs. renewal
- Context: user provides rent roll with an expiring tenant and asks for recommendation; user mentions a specific tenant is at 80% of market and asks what to do
Do NOT trigger for: portfolio-wide renewal strategy across multiple tenants (use tenant-retention-engine), new construction lease-up with no existing tenants (use lease-up-war-room), or rent optimization across all occupied space (use rent-optimization-planner).
Branching Logic
The analysis branches on five axes. Identify each before running any workflow.
Property Type Branch
| Property Type | Key Modifier |
|---|---|
| Retail | Evaluate co-tenancy risk from anchor or key-traffic tenants before running NPV. A trade-out of an anchor tenant can trigger co-tenancy clauses that cascade to multiple inline tenants. |
| Office | Expect longer vacancy (6-18 months), higher TI ($25-$75/SF), and larger LC (5-6% of aggregate rent). Trade-out is a bigger bet. |
| Industrial | Shorter vacancy (2-6 months), lower TI ($2-$10/SF), modest LC (3-4%). Trade-out friction is low -- market rent premium matters more. |
| Multifamily | Per-unit analysis. Vacancy is days-to-weeks not months. Trade-out almost always wins if market rents are above in-place. |
Lease Type Branch
| Lease Type | Key Modifier |
|---|---|
| NNN (triple-net) | Landlord bears minimal operating cost during vacancy. Trade-out carrying cost is primarily debt service and property tax. Lower friction. |
| Gross / Modified Gross | Landlord bears operating expenses during vacancy. Add full OpEx load to vacancy carrying cost. Higher friction for trade-out. |
Market Conditions Branch
| Market | Key Modifier |
|---|---|
| Tight (vacancy <7%) | Trade-out wins more often. Short downtime, multiple prospects competing. Run NPV but expect trade-out to outperform. |
| Balanced (vacancy 7-12%) | NPV is the deciding variable. Neither path has a structural advantage. Run full analysis. |
| Soft (vacancy >12%) | Renewal wins more often. Long downtime, fewer prospects, TI competition is intense. Trade-out requires significant rent premium to overcome carrying cost. |
Tenant Profile Branch
| Tenant Profile | Key Modifier |
|---|---|
| Investment-grade credit | Renewal has embedded credit premium. A credit tenant renewing is often worth more to portfolio value than replacing with a non-rated tenant at higher face rent. Quantify credit premium explicitly. |
| Non-credit tenant | Credit quality improvement from trade-out is a real benefit -- estimate the cap rate impact (10-25bps tighter cap) as an upside. |
| Delinquent/troubled tenant | Trade-out is likely the correct path regardless of NPV -- model replacement with a credit or qualified tenant. |
Space Type Branch
| Space Type | Key Modifier |
|---|---|
| Anchor (retail) | Trade-out is existential risk. Treat as Category 4 retention scenario. Do not recommend trade-out without full co-tenancy cascade analysis. |
| Inline retail / standard office | Routine trade-out analysis. NPV drives the decision. |
| Single-tenant building | Trade-out = 100% vacancy. Carrying cost is maximum (debt service, taxes, insurance, full OpEx if gross). Apply large vacancy risk premium. |
| Multi-suite floor plate | Partial vacancy. Analyze impact on remaining tenant perception and any co-tenancy or ROFO rights held by adjacent tenants. |
Input Schema
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
property_type | yes | retail / office / industrial / multifamily / mixed_use |
lease_type | yes | NNN / modified_gross / gross / FSG |
tenant_name | yes | for tracking and reference |
space_sf | yes | square footage of the space under analysis |
current_rent_psf | yes | in-place rent, annual $/SF |
market_rent_psf | yes | current market rent for comparable space, annual $/SF |
remaining_term_months | yes | months left on current lease |
lease_expiration_date | yes | date of lease expiration |
renewal_options | no | any renewal options remaining (term, rent formula) |
renewal_rent_psf | no | proposed renewal rent if known; otherwise skill will model range |
renewal_ti_psf | no | proposed renewal TI if known; otherwise skill will benchmark |
market_ti_psf | no | TI for new tenant at market; otherwise skill will benchmark |
lc_rate | no | leasing commission rate as % of aggregate rent; otherwise benchmarked |
expected_vacancy_months | no | estimated downtime if tenant leaves; otherwise benchmarked |
make_ready_cost_psf | no | cost to prepare space for new tenant; otherwise benchmarked |
carrying_cost_psf_monthly | no | monthly cost of vacant space (taxes, insurance, debt service, OpEx if gross) |
submarket_vacancy_rate | yes | current submarket vacancy rate |
absorption_rate | no | monthly SF absorbed in submarket (for downtime calibration) |
tenant_credit_quality | no | investment_grade / non_credit / delinquent |
co_tenancy_clauses | no | whether any co-tenancy clauses are tied to this tenant |
rofo_rights | no | whether adjacent tenants hold ROFO on this space |
disposition_refi_timeline_months | no | months until planned sale or refinancing |
current_dscr | no | current debt service coverage ratio |
dscr_covenant | no | lender minimum DSCR |
discount_rate | no | analysis discount rate; default 7% if not provided |
analysis_period_years | no | NPV hold period in years; default 10 if not provided |
Interrogation Pattern
If required inputs are missing, ask in this order:
- "What's the tenant's current rent vs. market rent? ($ PSF, annual)"
- "What's the remaining lease term and any renewal options?"
- "Estimated TI allowance for renewal vs. new tenant? ($ PSF)"
- "Expected vacancy/downtime if tenant leaves? (months) -- or what's the submarket vacancy rate so I can estimate?"
- "Leasing commission structure? (% of aggregate lease value)"
- "Any co-tenancy clauses tied to this tenant? Any ROFO rights held by adjacent tenants?"
- "Tenant's credit quality? (Would losing them improve or degrade portfolio credit?)"
- "Any capital improvements needed regardless of renewal or trade-out? (Exclude from comparison -- these are sunk costs.)"
- "Is there a disposition or refinancing timeline within 24 months? (Changes how I weight WALT and credit quality.)"
Process
Workflow 1: Current Lease Economics Snapshot
Document the full economics of the existing lease before any forward-looking analysis.
Current Lease Economics -- [Tenant Name]
Space: [SF] SF, [Suite/Floor], [Property Name]
Lease type: [NNN / Gross / FSG]
Lease expiration: [Date] ([X] months remaining)
Renewal options: [None | X-year option at [formula/rate]]
In-place rent: $[X.XX]/SF/yr ($[X,XXX]/mo)
Market rent (comparable): $[X.XX]/SF/yr ($[X,XXX]/mo)
Rent gap: $[X.XX]/SF/yr below market ([X]% below)
Rent gap (annual $): $[X,XXX]/yr being left on the table
Remaining escalations: [annual bumps, CPI, or flat]
Total rent remaining (undiscounted): $[X,XXX,XXX]
TI amortization status: [Is the original TI fully amortized? If not, what's remaining?]
LC amortization status: [Is the original LC fully amortized? If not, what's remaining?]
Effective rent (current): $[X.XX]/SF/yr (after original TI and LC amortized over term)
Effective rent (market): $[X.XX]/SF/yr (market face rent net of market TI and LC)Key insight at this step: If the effective rent gap (accounting for original TI and LC costs) is smaller than the face rent gap, the trade-out case is weaker than it first appears. Quantify both gaps explicitly.
Workflow 2: Renewal Scenario Modeling
Model the full economics of retaining the tenant on new terms.
Renewal rent range: negotiate within in-place rent (floor) to market rent (ceiling). Common retention discount: 5-15% below market as "staying premium."
Renewal TI: ranges from $0 (flat renewal, no work) to $5-15/SF (cosmetic refresh, office) to 25% of market TI (partial improvement allowance). Industrial: $0-$3/SF. Use references/market-ti-benchmarks.yaml.
Renewal LC: typically 50-75% of new-lease commission. Ranges from 0% (direct deal, no broker) to 3-4% of aggregate renewal rent.
Renewal Scenario -- [Tenant Name]
Renewal term proposed: [X] years
Renewal start date: [Date]
Renewal end date: [Date]
RENEWAL ECONOMICS:
Renewal rent: $[X.XX]/SF/yr (Year 1)
Annual escalation: [X]%/yr or CPI-capped at [X]%
Renewal TI: $[X.XX]/SF ($[X,XXX] total)
Renewal LC: [X]% of aggregate rent = $[X,XXX]
Free rent (if any): [X] months = $[X,XXX]
Downtime / vacancy: 0 months (no disruption)
Make-ready cost: $0 (existing tenant stays in place)
Credit risk adjustment: [Known credit history -- low risk premium | quantify]
EFFECTIVE RENEWAL RENT:
Face rent (avg over term): $[X.XX]/SF/yr
Less TI amortized: ($[X.XX]/SF/yr)
Less LC amortized: ($[X.XX]/SF/yr)
Less free rent amortized: ($[X.XX]/SF/yr)
Effective rent (renewal): $[X.XX]/SF/yr
ANNUAL CASH FLOWS (renewal):
Year 1: $[X,XXX] (net of TI and LC upfront costs)
Year 2: $[X,XXX]
[...]
Year N: $[X,XXX]
NPV at [X]% discount rate: $[X,XXX,XXX]Workflow 3: Trade-Out Scenario Modeling
Model the full economics of replacing the tenant with a new one at market terms.
Market rent achievable: Use actual submarket comps or user-supplied data. Account for any landlord concessions typical in the current market.
New tenant TI: Use benchmarks from references/market-ti-benchmarks.yaml. Adjust for space condition (cold shell vs. second-gen vs. warm shell). A second-gen space with usable improvements reduces effective TI.
New LC: Use benchmarks from references/market-ti-benchmarks.yaml. Typically 4-6% of aggregate rent for commercial.
Vacancy/downtime: Calibrate to submarket vacancy rate and absorption. See decision framework in references/trade-out-decision-framework.md.
Make-ready cost: Cost to demise, clean, repaint, and prepare space for marketing. Distinct from TI. Typically $3-10/SF for office, $1-4/SF for industrial.
Trade-Out Scenario -- [Tenant Name]
Expected vacancy period: [X] months (based on [X]% submarket vacancy)
Market rent (new lease): $[X.XX]/SF/yr (Year 1)
New lease term: [X] years
Annual escalation: [X]%/yr
TRADE-OUT COSTS:
Vacancy carrying cost: $[X.XX]/SF/mo x [X] months = $[X,XXX]
Make-ready cost: $[X.XX]/SF = $[X,XXX]
New tenant TI: $[X.XX]/SF = $[X,XXX]
Leasing commission: [X]% of $[X,XXX] aggregate rent = $[X,XXX]
Total trade-out cost: $[X,XXX,XXX]
Cost as months of rent: [X] months of new rent required to recoup
CREDIT RISK ADJUSTMENT:
New tenant credit: [Unknown | Rated | Non-rated]
Risk premium applied: [X]bps additional discount rate vs. renewal
Or: cap rate impact: [Improvement / degradation in portfolio credit quality]
ANNUAL CASH FLOWS (trade-out):
Year 1: $0 for [X] months vacancy, then $[X,XXX]
Year 2: $[X,XXX]
[...]
Year N: $[X,XXX]
NPV at [X]% discount rate (same as renewal): $[X,XXX,XXX]
EFFECTIVE TRADE-OUT RENT:
Face rent (avg over term): $[X.XX]/SF/yr
Less TI amortized: ($[X.XX]/SF/yr)
Less LC amortized: ($[X.XX]/SF/yr)
Less vacancy cost amortized: ($[X.XX]/SF/yr)
Less make-ready amortized: ($[X.XX]/SF/yr)
Effective rent (trade-out): $[X.XX]/SF/yrWorkflow 4: NPV Comparison
Side-by-side 10-year DCF comparison. Use the same discount rate for both. Apply a credit risk premium to the trade-out scenario if the new tenant is unrated or unknown.
NPV COMPARISON -- [Tenant Name] -- [Analysis Date]
Discount rate (renewal): [X]%
Discount rate (trade-out): [X]% (+ [X]bps credit risk premium if applicable)
Analysis period: [X] years
Space: [SF] SF
RENEWAL TRADE-OUT DELTA
Year 1 cash flow: $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX]
Year 2: $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX]
Year 3: $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX]
Year 4: $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX]
Year 5: $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX]
[...]
Year 10: $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX]
Upfront costs: $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX] $[X,XXX]
(TI + LC + make-ready + free rent)
PV of cash flows: $[X,XXX,XXX] $[X,XXX,XXX]
Net NPV: $[X,XXX,XXX] $[X,XXX,XXX] $[X,XXX,XXX]
NPV VERDICT:
[RENEWAL WINS by $X,XXX,XXX | TRADE-OUT WINS by $X,XXX,XXX]
[If delta < 10% of renewal NPV: decision is marginal -- use risk adjustment as tiebreaker]Sensitivity table (run automatically):
SENSITIVITY: NPV Delta (Trade-Out NPV minus Renewal NPV)
Vacancy Duration
2 months 4 months 6 months 9 months 12 months
New TI: $15/SF $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X]
$20/SF $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X]
$25/SF $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X]
$35/SF $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X] $[X]
Positive = trade-out wins. Negative = renewal wins.
Shaded zone: delta within 5% of renewal NPV (marginal decision, use risk-adjusted tiebreaker).Workflow 5: Breakeven Analysis
Solve for the specific conditions where both paths produce equal NPV. This identifies the exact thresholds that govern the decision.
BREAKEVEN ANALYSIS -- [Tenant Name]
Question 1: At what rent premium does trade-out equal renewal NPV?
Holding vacancy at [X] months and TI at $[X]/SF:
Trade-out breaks even with renewal when new rent = $[X.XX]/SF/yr
Market rent is $[X.XX]/SF. Trade-out wins at or above this level.
[Market supports this / Market does NOT currently support this]
Question 2: At what vacancy duration does renewal equal trade-out NPV?
Holding new rent at $[X.XX]/SF and TI at $[X]/SF:
Breakeven vacancy = [X] months
Expected vacancy = [X] months.
[Trade-out viable if downtime stays under [X] months | Renewal wins if downtime exceeds [X] months]
Question 3: At what TI level does trade-out equal renewal NPV?
Holding new rent at $[X.XX]/SF and vacancy at [X] months:
Breakeven TI = $[X.XX]/SF
Market TI is $[X.XX]/SF. [Market TI is above/below breakeven -- implication.]
BREAKEVEN SUMMARY:
Trade-out wins when ALL of the following hold simultaneously:
- New rent >= $[X.XX]/SF (vs. market rent of $[X.XX]/SF)
- Vacancy <= [X] months (vs. expected [X] months)
- New TI <= $[X.XX]/SF (vs. market TI of $[X.XX]/SF)
If any condition breaks, renewal wins. If all three hold, trade-out wins.Workflow 6: Risk-Adjusted Comparison
The NPV comparison uses point estimates. This workflow layers probability-weighted scenarios.
Probability of successful trade-out: estimate based on:
- Submarket vacancy rate (higher vacancy = lower probability of quick lease-up)
- Space marketability (size, configuration, condition, location within building)
- Competitive set absorption (how fast is similar space being absorbed?)
- Prior leasing velocity at this property
RISK-ADJUSTED TRADE-OUT ANALYSIS
Probability of trade-out success within [X] months:
Submarket vacancy: [X]% (indicates [tight/balanced/soft] demand)
Competitive space: [X] comparable suites available in submarket
Absorption rate: [X] SF/month absorbed in submarket
Estimated months to lease at 75% probability: [X] months
Base case vacancy assumed: [X] months
Scenario weighting:
Scenario Probability Trade-Out NPV
Best case (2-month vacancy) [X]% $[X,XXX,XXX]
Base case ([X]-month vacancy) [X]% $[X,XXX,XXX]
Stress case ([X]-month vacancy) [X]% $[X,XXX,XXX]
Probability-weighted Trade-Out NPV: $[X,XXX,XXX]
Renewal NPV (no probability adjustment): $[X,XXX,XXX]
Risk-adjusted delta: $[X,XXX,XXX]
[DECISION: risk-adjusted trade-out wins | risk-adjusted renewal wins | marginal]Workflow 7: Co-Tenancy and Portfolio Impact
Required when the tenant is an anchor, a traffic driver, or when co-tenancy clauses exist. Also required for single-tenant buildings.
CO-TENANCY AND PORTFOLIO IMPACT ANALYSIS
Co-tenancy exposure:
Does losing this tenant trigger any co-tenancy clauses?
[List each affected tenant, their SF, their rent reduction trigger]
Estimated rent reduction if clause triggered: $[X,XXX]/yr per affected tenant
Total co-tenancy exposure: $[X,XXX,XXX] of rent at risk
NPV of co-tenancy exposure: $[X,XXX,XXX]
ADJUSTED Trade-Out NPV (including co-tenancy risk):
Base Trade-Out NPV: $[X,XXX,XXX]
Less co-tenancy risk NPV: ($[X,XXX,XXX])
Adjusted Trade-Out NPV: $[X,XXX,XXX]
Tenant mix and anchor perception:
[Does this tenant drive traffic or anchor the property? Narrative assessment.]
[Impact on competing properties' perception of this property's tenancy quality]
[Impact on prospective tenants' leasing decisions]
ROFO rights:
[Do any adjacent tenants hold rights of first offer on this space?]
[If so, does the ROFO tenant have the financial capacity to exercise?]
[ROFO exercise would mean no vacancy and no LC -- a trade-out benefit if ROFO tenant is credit]
Portfolio credit quality:
Credit quality of departing tenant: [Investment-grade / non-credit / troubled]
Credit quality of likely replacement: [Investment-grade / non-credit / unknown]
Cap rate impact from credit change: [X]bps [tighter / wider] on this asset
Estimated value impact: $[X,XXX] based on $[X]/SF NOIWorkflow 8: Recommendation Engine
Produce a final recommendation with confidence level and conditions.
LEASE TRADE-OUT RECOMMENDATION -- [Tenant Name]
RECOMMENDATION: [GO RENEW | GO TRADE-OUT | CONDITIONAL]
Confidence: [HIGH | MEDIUM | LOW]
HIGH: NPV delta > 15% of the lower NPV AND risk-adjusted verdict matches
MEDIUM: NPV delta 5-15% OR risk-adjusted verdict diverges from base case
LOW: NPV delta < 5% OR multiple breakeven conditions are near current market
Primary drivers:
1. [Lead factor, e.g., "Vacancy carrying cost of $X/mo overwhelms the $X rent premium"]
2. [Second factor, e.g., "Market TI of $X/SF makes trade-out payback unacceptably long"]
3. [Third factor, e.g., "Credit quality improvement from trade-out is $X of cap rate value"]
If GO RENEW:
Recommended renewal terms:
Term: [X] years (minimum [X] for WALT benefit)
Starting rent: $[X.XX]/SF/yr
Annual bumps: [X]%
TI allowance: $[X]/SF
Free rent: [X] months
LC: [X]% to tenant rep broker
Effective rent: $[X.XX]/SF/yr
Walk-away point: Do not concede below $[X.XX]/SF effective rent
If GO TRADE-OUT:
Transition plan:
Notice to tenant: Deliver [X] months before expiration
Space marketing start: [X] months before vacancy date
Asking rent: $[X.XX]/SF/yr
Concession budget: Up to $[X]/SF TI + [X] months free rent
Target lease execution: [Date] ([X] months before vacancy)
Interim: activate lease-up-war-room protocol
If CONDITIONAL:
Go RENEW if: [specific condition, e.g., "new tenant TI requests exceed $X/SF"]
Go TRADE-OUT if: [specific condition, e.g., "identified prospect willing to pay $X/SF"]
Monitor: [specific trigger, e.g., "submarket vacancy drops below X% -- reassess"]
Decision deadline: [Date by which you must commit to one path]Worked Example
Scenario: 10,000 SF inline retail tenant, NNN lease. Tenant paying $28/SF NNN. Market is $35/SF NNN. Submarket vacancy 8% (balanced). Tenant is non-credit, has been in the space 7 years, lease expires in 9 months.
Inputs assumed: discount rate 7%, 10-year analysis, make-ready $5/SF, carrying cost $2.50/SF/month during vacancy.
CURRENT LEASE ECONOMICS
In-place rent: $28.00/SF/yr ($23,333/mo)
Market rent: $35.00/SF/yr ($29,167/mo)
Rent gap: $7.00/SF/yr (25% below market)
Annual gap ($): $70,000/yr being left on the table
RENEWAL SCENARIO (5-year renewal at $32/SF NNN)
Year 1 base rent: $32.00/SF (14.3% increase, 8.6% below market)
Annual bumps: 3%/yr
Renewal TI: $5/SF = $50,000 (cosmetic: new flooring, paint)
Renewal LC: 2.5% of $1,742,000 aggregate = $43,550
Downtime: 0 months
Effective rent: $32.00 - ($5/10 yr amort) - ($43,550/10 yr amort / 10K SF)
= $32.00 - $0.50 - $0.44 = $31.06/SF effective
NPV at 7%: $1,821,000
TRADE-OUT SCENARIO (5-year new lease at $35/SF NNN)
Year 1 base rent: $35.00/SF (market)
Annual bumps: 3%/yr
Vacancy: 4 months ($2.50/SF/mo x 10,000 x 4 = $100,000 carrying cost)
Make-ready: $5/SF = $50,000
New TI: $25/SF = $250,000
LC: 5% of $1,901,000 aggregate = $95,050
Total upfront cost: $495,050
Effective rent: $35.00 - ($25/10 yr) - ($95,050/10 yr/10K SF) - vacancy amort
= $35.00 - $2.50 - $0.95 - $1.00 = $30.55/SF effective
NPV at 7%: $1,621,000
NPV COMPARISON
Renewal NPV: $1,821,000
Trade-Out NPV: $1,621,000
Delta: Renewal wins by $200,000 (11% of renewal NPV)
Confidence: MEDIUM (11% is meaningful but not definitive)
BREAKEVEN ANALYSIS
Breakeven downtime: Trade-out needs downtime < 2.8 months to break even
Breakeven new TI: Trade-out breaks even only if TI < $18/SF
Breakeven new rent: Trade-out breaks even if new rent >= $37.20/SF
Market rent is $35/SF -- below the $37.20 breakeven. Market TI is $25/SF -- above the $18 breakeven.
RECOMMENDATION: GO RENEW
Confidence: MEDIUM. Renewal wins on base NPV by $200K. Breakeven analysis confirms:
achieving trade-out profitability requires simultaneously: new rent > $37.20/SF (above current
market), OR vacancy < 2.8 months (tight for balanced market), OR TI < $18/SF (well below
market). At least two of three breakeven conditions are unfavorable. Proceed with renewal
at $32/SF with $5/SF TI.
Walk-away: Do not accept renewal below $30/SF effective rent.
If tenant walks, activate trade-out at $35/SF asking with $25/SF TI budget.Output Format
Present results in this order:
- Current Lease Economics Snapshot -- in-place rent, market rent, rent gap, effective rent with amortized original costs
- Renewal Scenario -- full economics, cash flows, effective rent, NPV
- Trade-Out Scenario -- full economics including all upfront costs, cash flows, effective rent, NPV
- NPV Comparison -- side-by-side table with delta and sensitivity matrix
- Breakeven Analysis -- three-variable breakeven with market context
- Risk-Adjusted Comparison -- probability-weighted trade-out NPV vs. renewal NPV
- Co-Tenancy and Portfolio Impact -- only if relevant (anchor, single-tenant, co-tenancy clause exists)
- Recommendation -- GO RENEW / GO TRADE-OUT / CONDITIONAL with confidence level, terms, and conditions
Red Flags and Failure Modes
- Trade-out with >6 months expected downtime in soft market: the vacancy carrying cost alone will likely overwhelm the rent premium. Requires very high new rent to justify. Flag immediately and default toward renewal unless market data clearly shows faster absorption.
- Renewal below 85% of market rent: if the landlord accepts renewal at <85% of market, the tenant is capturing excess value. Quantify the NPV cost of the discount and present it as the cost of avoiding a trade-out -- make sure that cost is explicitly authorized.
- Trade-out of anchor tenant in retail: co-tenancy cascade risk can dwarf the rent premium. Never recommend trade-out for a grocery anchor, major fashion anchor, or traffic-driving big box without a full co-tenancy analysis and identified replacement anchor in-hand or near-certain.
- TI for new tenant exceeding 18 months of rent: TI payback period is too long for standard hold periods. At $35/SF rent and $55/SF TI, payback is 18.9 months -- flag as excessive. Negotiate TI down or accept that effective rent is materially below face rent.
- Vacancy cost exceeds rent premium NPV over hold period: if the present value of all vacancy-related costs (carrying + make-ready + TI + LC) exceeds the present value of the rent gap over the hold period, trade-out destroys value even before risk adjustment. This is the most common analytical error -- always compute the full cost stack.
- Trading out a credit tenant for a non-credit tenant: unless the rent premium is very large, credit degradation is a real economic cost. Quantify the cap rate impact (10-25bps for losing investment-grade tenancy) as part of the trade-out cost.
- Renewal with no rent increase from current below-market rate: if the tenant is at $28/SF in a $35/SF market and the landlord offers renewal at $28/SF, that is not a renewal -- it is a permanent rent concession. Model the NPV cost of this "flat renewal" vs. pushing for a step-up, even if the tenant threatens to leave.
- Trade-out when submarket absorption rate < 50% of available competing space: if the competitive set has 18 months of available supply at current absorption, expected downtime is 9+ months. Re-run the NPV with 9-month vacancy -- it almost always flips the recommendation to renewal.
- Ignoring capital improvements needed regardless of path: if the roof, HVAC, or lobby needs replacement regardless of the tenant decision, those costs are sunk and should be excluded from both scenarios. Including them inflates the apparent cost of both paths equally but can distort the comparison if allocated differently.
- DSCR covenant breach during trade-out vacancy: if the property has a loan with a DSCR covenant (typically 1.15-1.25x), a trade-out that creates 4-6 months of vacancy can push DSCR below the covenant threshold, triggering a cash sweep or lender action. ALWAYS model the DSCR impact of the vacancy period before recommending trade-out. If DSCR drops below cash sweep trigger (typically 1.10-1.15x), the trade-out may trap cash and prevent distributions for 6-12 months beyond the vacancy period. Cross-reference with loan-document-reviewer and debt-covenant-monitor.
- Sunk cost trap in renewal TI analysis: when comparing renewal vs trade-out, only include INCREMENTAL costs in the renewal scenario. The original TI from the initial lease is a sunk cost -- do not re-amortize it. The renewal scenario should include only: new renewal TI allowance, any LC on renewal, and free rent (if any). Comparing "zero TI renewal" against "$25/SF new TI trade-out" overstates the renewal advantage if the original lease included $20/SF TI that is now fully amortized.
Chain Notes
- Upstream: tenant-retention-engine (full portfolio retention analysis), rent-optimization-planner (rent gap identification that surfaces trade-out candidates)
- Downstream: lease-up-war-room (activates when trade-out is selected), lease-negotiation-analyzer (takes over once trade-out or renewal path is committed), lease-option-structurer (structures the specific renewal option or new lease terms)
- Lateral: comp-snapshot (market rent and TI benchmarks), noi-sprint-plan (trade-out or renewal decision is a direct NOI driver)
Computational Tools
This skill can use the following scripts for precise calculations:
scripts/calculators/npv_trade_out.py-- renewal vs trade-out NPV comparison with breakeven analysis and sensitivity grid ``bash python3 scripts/calculators/npv_trade_out.py --json '{"current_rent_psf": 28.00, "market_rent_psf": 35.00, "renewal_rent_psf": 32.00, "renewal_ti_psf": 5.00, "new_ti_psf": 25.00, "lc_pct_renewal": 0.025, "lc_pct_new": 0.05, "vacancy_months": 4, "make_ready_psf": 5.00, "sf": 10000, "lease_term_years": 5, "discount_rate": 0.07, "annual_escalation": 0.03, "carrying_cost_psf_monthly": 2.50}'``